In this study we are looking at the prayer of Hezekiah which is recorded in 2 Kings 19:14-19. But as with many of the prayers we have looked at in past weeks, so with this one, we only understand the prayer aright when we know something of the circumstances in which this prayer was uttered. What I want us to note particularly this week is this: Hezekiah prays for God to glorify himself and for him to vindicate his name among his people, even though his people have failed to glorify him. There is surely a lesson for us here.
If we would understand the incidents recorded in 2 Kings 18 and 19 we need to know something of the preceding history. King Ahaz, the father of Hezekiah had failed to rule well. He had been disobedient to the Lord, offering sacrifices at many different hilltop shrines and even sacrificing his own son in the fire (2 Kings 16:3,4). When Ahaz saw the growing power of the Assyrians he had sought to ensure his own safety by sending money to the king of Assyria and inviting him to be an ally of Judah against Israel and Aram (16:7-9). This worked so well that Damascus, the capital of Aram, was destroyed by the Assyrians and from that time they seem to have had their sights set also on Israel.
A few years later Hezekiah succeeded his father Ahaz as king over Judah. Hezekiah was a godly king, even if he was sometimes weak. With the encouragement of Isaiah the prophet, Hezekiah sought to turn the people back to a wholehearted obedience to the Lord and a singleminded trust in him. He destroyed the high places where the people were offering false worship and insisted that all of Judah should come up to Jerusalem to worship the Lord (18:3,4).
Then Hezekiah rebelled against the Assyrians. The Assyrian king referred to himself as 'The Great King', and thought of himself as being king of kings, the ruler of the whole world. As such he demanded the submission of all other kings to him: he demanded that they send him tribute. Hezekiah refused to do this. It was not that he thought of himself as being a greater king than the king of Assyria, rather he viewed the claims of the king of Assyria as rival claims to the those of God. Hezekiah could not bow down to the king of Assyria because he was the servant of another Great King, one who demanded his loyal service. So Hezekiah rebelled against Assyria and refused to serve the Assyrians (18:7)
But in Hezekiah's fourth year the Assyrians began to prepare for war. First they attacked the ten northern tribes, Israel, and took them off into captivity. Then, ten years later, they began to invade Judah, capturing many of the fortified cities. This is where Hezekiah shows his weakness: he sent to the king of Assyria declaring how wrong he had been to rebel against him and seeking to buy him off. The king of Assyria demanded a vast sum from Hezekiah, about 11 tons of silver and 1 ton of gold! Then, having received his payment he continued his advance against Jerusalem!
What more could Hezekiah do? One thing that Hezekiah did was to divert the city's water supply. He stopped up the springs outside the city wall and diverted their flow underground beneath the city. The tunnel which he constructed can still be visited today. His aim was to provide water for a besieged city and to make it more difficult for an army outside the walls to find water. Secondly, it seems that at least some of Hezekiah's civil service were anxious to gain help from Egypt in opposing the Assyrians. We read in Isaiah 30:1-6 speaks of such moves. To what extent these attempts at alliance had Hezekiah's backing we do not know, but we do know that they betrayed a lack of trust in God.
This is the background against which we read of the siege of Jerusalem in 2 Kings 18:17 and following.
Sennacherib sent three of his chief officers to speak with Hezekiah and to demand his surrender. Hezekiah in turn sent out three of his chief officers to meet with them. They met just outside the city wall. The messengers from Sennacherib spoke in Hebrew so that the soldiers on the wall could hear all that they said. They told Hezekiah that his position was hopeless and that he had better surrender or he would be destroyed.
The king of Assyria challenges Hezekiah: "On what are you basing this confidence of yours?" (18:19). He then speaks of the three different sources of Hezekiah's confidence and mocks them one by one. Does Hezekiah place confidence in Egypt? He should know that Egypt is like a splintered reed or staff which injures the person who leans on it. These words must have made Hezekiah uncomfortable. Here Sennacherib is saying no more than Isaiah has said to Hezekiah. Here is an ungodly king putting his finger on Hezekiah's own inconsistency and mocking him in his disobedience. Hezekiah must have felt it keenly.
Does Hezekiah put his confidence in the Lord? How can Hezekiah expect help from the Lord when he has broken down many of the altars of the Lord on the high places? Here Sennacherib shows his ignorance of God's law, for in breaking down the high places Hezekiah had done no more than God required. But Sennacherib is not concerned with the rights and wrongs of God's law, he is concerned to win over the hearts of the people. Sennacherib's accusation here was calculated to make the people uneasy. In their popular religion they had been greatly attached to their local places of worship. Hezekiah had destroyed them. They were quite likely to feel that Sennacherib had a point here: how could they expect help from the Lord when his altars had been smashed up. Moreover, the accusation, however wrong in its details, is right in essence: how can the people expect help from a God whom they have served half-heartedly at best?
Thirdly, Sennacherib asks whether Hezekiah is trusting in his own military strength. Sennacherib mocks the army of Hezekiah, even offering him 2,000 horses if he can find riders for them, this will even the odds a little. Even so, Hezekiah's forces would not be able to repulse one of the least officers of Sennacherib, Again, Hezekiah must have felt the truth of this accusation.
Lastly, Sennacherib tells Hezekiah that, if he is trusting in the Lord to deliver him he should know this: that Sennacherib has been sent by the Lord to destroy Jerusalem (18:25). Here again Sennacherib is saying no more than Isaiah has said to Hezekiah, see for instance Isaiah 29:1-3. Sennacherib was probably aware that many of the prophets had warned rebellious Judah that unless they repented God would judge them. His words must have troubled Hezekiah greatly: were they true?
It was then that Sennacherib's officials overplayed their hand. In seeking to persuade the people to rebel against Hezekiah they said, "Do not listen to Hezekiah, for he is misleading you when he says, 'The Lord will deliver us.' Has the god of any nation ever delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah? Have they rescued Samaria from my hand? Who of all the gods of these countries has been able to save his hand from me? How then can the Lord deliver Jerusalem from my hand?" (18:32-35). Here we see the arrogance of this king. He believes that there is no god greater than himself: the God of Hezekiah and Isaiah is just like the gods of the other nations, powerless and unable to help.
On hearing the words of Sennacherib Hezekiah tears his robes. This is Hezekiah's reaction to the bold blasphemy of Sennacherib. Hezekiah sends for Isaiah that he may know what the Lord has to say in this situation. The word comes back, "This is what the Lord says° Do not be afraid of what you have heard – those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. Listen! I am going to put such a spirit in him that when he hears a certain report, he will return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword." (19:5-7). Hezekiah is to know that the king of Assyria will be destroyed, not because Jerusalem deserves to be saved, but because God will not have his name blasphemed.
It was at this time that Sennacherib heard that the Egyptians were coming up to fight against him. For this reason he abandoned the siege of Jerusalem, but he sent a letter to Hezekiah warning him that he would return. The letter is recorded for us in 19:10-13. In it Sennacherib repeats his blasphemous boast that no god is able to stand before him.
This is the context of Hezekiah's prayer. Jerusalem is under threat from the king of Assyria. Hezekiah knows that Jerusalem does not really deserve to be saved: God would not be unjust if he did punish this rebellious people through the armies of Assyria. But God's name has been blasphemed, and will be blasphemed if the Assyrians return to destroy Jerusalem.
In his distress, Hezekiah turns to the Lord in prayer. The first thing that he does is to spread the letter out before the Lord. This is a lovely picture of intercessory prayer: Hezekiah takes the matter to the Lord. He wants that God himself should answer the accusation of the Assyrians and so he simply lays the matter before the Lord.
Secondly, He acknowledges God to be the Lord: "O Lord, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth.” He acknowledges the God of Israel to be the living God, ruler over all the kingdoms of the world.
Thirdly, he acknowledges the truth of some of the claims of the king of Assyria: "It is true, O Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands. They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone fashioned by men's hands.”
Fourthly, he pleads that God may show himself to be the living God by acting against Assyria: "Give ear, O Lord, and hear: open your eyes, O Lord, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to insult the living God. . . Now, O Lord our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O Lord, are God.” Hezekiah knows that his God is different from all other gods. He pleads that God may hear, see, listen, deliver ... that he may show that he is the Living God. Though Hezekiah asks for deliverance for himself and the people, his primary concern is with the honour of God. God's name has been blasphemed by Sennacherib and Hezekiah wants God to demonstrate that he alone is God.
Hezekiah's prayer is heard. We read that God struck down the army of Sennacherib with a terrible plague so that 185,000 of the soldiers in the camp died in one night, Sennacherib returned to Nineveh, his capital city, and there was murdered by his own sons. God had vindicated his own name. He had demonstrated that there was one who was able to withstand the might of Assyria, namely the one who had given might and power to that nation, the Lord God. God had demonstrated that he and not Sennacherib was King of kings and Lord of lords.
Through this incident we learn that God will not allow his name to be blasphemed by the nations: he will always act to vindicate his name and to glorify himself,
Our minds must naturally turn from Hezekiah to another and greater son of David. When Jesus walked this earth many would not listen to him. Jew and Roman mocked him. The name of God was blasphemed. At last they hung him on a cross to die and the crowds mocked and said, "If you are the Son of God, save yourself!" The name of God was blasphemed by the nations. But God will not permit his name to be blasphemed, nor will he allow the cause of his kingdom to fail. God raised up this Jesus from the dead and gave him the name which is above every name that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
And the name of God and of his Christ are still being blasphemed by the nations. But God will act to establish his kingdom. He will not permit himself to be mocked.
But do we not see something of ourselves in Hezekiah and in the inhabitants of Jerusalem? We are the people of God, those whom he has redeemed by his own might and power – redeemed through the Lord Jesus Christ. He has shown himself to be the Living God and has made himself our God. What a privilege is ours. We are like no other people on the face of the earth. We are a people whose God is the Lord. Yet have we served the Lord with our whole heart? Do we not have to admit that all too often we also are a compromised people, weak and vacillating in our service of our God?
In a very real sense Hezekiah got himself into a problem of his own making when he began to play at power politics, seeking an alliance with Egypt. There was some justice in Sennacherib's claim that God had raised him up to be a means of judgment upon Hezekiah and his people. Do we not sometimes get ourselves into troubles which we have brought upon ourselves by our failure to live consistently by God's standards and for God's glory? Why should God save us out of such troubles? Would it not be just of him to let us sink under them? Would not God be glorified in the judgment of a rebellious people?
Or look at the state of the Christian church in general. Look just at the Evangelical churches, those which profess to believe and live by the word of God. Yet we have to admit that the evangelical churches are characterised by compromise and disarray. Francis Schaeffer in his book, The Great Evangelical Disaster, catalogues the ways in which evangelicals have compromised on Scripture and have compromised with the standards and practices of the world. And we know for ourselves the multitudes of divisions and schisms among evangelicals. Why should the Lord bless such churches? Why should the Lord prosper the work of the Gospel? Could it not be argued that God would be just if he were to send judgment rather than blessing?
We need to learn from Hezekiah that we have only one plea with God. We cannot plead that we deserve to be prospered and blessed, for that is not true. Our only plea is that God would glorify his own name and that he would show himself to be King of kings and Lord of lords in causing his kingdom to prosper and grow. We want to see the name of Christ glorified. We want to see men and women and boys and girls bowing the knee to him. This is our only plea with God: that he would look at the way in which the name of Christ is being blasphemed by men and women and by the nations and that he would vindicate his own name. This alone is our plea with God, "Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
This is a prayer which God will hear and answer. We have his words of promise, as sure as the word of promise God gave Hezekiah through Isaiah. We have such words as these: 'For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this (Isaiah 9:6,7). Or again, "He must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet" (1 Corinthians 15:25). These are God's promises and this is our plea with him, a plea which he cannot ignore.
Peter Misselbrook